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Merdana
Merdana was a Toa of Stone of Leskya Nuian origin. She fled from her homeland after it was destroyed, eventually arriving on Powai Nui, where she and her fellow survivors began fighting the island's native Matoran and Toa inhabitants. After peace was made between the Leskya Nuians and Powai Nuians, she left the island with her mentor Vandir and a handful of Leskya Nuian Matoran. History Early History As Matoran, Toa and Turaga of Stone are programmed to be male, Merdana was created through an error in the Matoran-creating device. Like most other Matoran, she assisted in the creation of the Matoran Universe from the moment she was created by the Great Beings. After it was completed, she was placed on Leskya Nui, a cold island in the Southern Islands. Seeing as the Southern Islands were rather secluded, it is likely that she was placed there to hide her from the larger Matoran populations up north who believed female Po-Matoran didn't exist. War of Pestilence Per orders by the Brotherhood of Makuta, Antharahk began to attack the island using an army of robotic soldiers. The island's Toa, which consisted of Vandir, Hatar, Nohri, Dehka, and three others, immediately retaliated. To aid in their fight against the Makuta, the Toa recruited around twenty Matoran to be specially trained in combat. Merdana was one of the first Matoran to volunteer. During one battle, Antharahk detonated an Incendiary on Leskya Nui, obliterating the entirety of the island. Merdana was among the few who survived, along with Vandir, Hatar, and around fifty Matoran. The survivors escaped the island on the ''Horizon Breaker''. As a result of mind-numbing transmissions sent across the Leskya Nuian airwaves, the emotional impact of her island's destruction was lessened. Colonizing Powai Nui The survivors arrived on the southern shore of Powai Nui and began sending pairs of Matoran to scout the island. Merdana was paired with a Ko-Matoran named Jeko and was also made the director of the scouting operations. During one scouting mission, she saw Turaga Maroona and her assistants and perceived them as a threat. After Navahko and Corduk were summoned by the Turaga, Merdana and Jeko retreated and told Vandir. Following several other incidents, there was a definite conflict established between the colonists and the natives. When Keelo rose to power, Merdana was quick to join his Empire. The newly established Emperor ordered Vandir to transform her into a Toa of Stone, claiming that her excellent combat abilities would be put to much more use. Vandir trained her and instructed her on how to use her powers and mask, and also had a pair of hook weapons made for her to use as Toa tools which she dubbed "Hook-knives." The two were sent to attack the escaped native Toa at Aqueduct Base. They would have overpowered the Toa had Detras not tricked Merdana into firing at Vandir by accident. In a fit of anger, she used her mask against them before retreating with the Toa of Air. Merdana joined Vandir, Hatar and a squad of armed Matoran in aiding Keelo in one of his plans, where he would duel Detras before having him killed. To their surprise, the natives had countered their plan, placing Keelo in the Shrine of Salvation's pocket dimension. Makuta Hysterix appeared, pushed Detras into it as well, and destroyed the machine, trapping Keelo and Detras inside of the pocket dimension. He then used the Mask Maker's Tool to nullify the elemental powers of everyone around him, before starting a battle. Merdana seemed to survive the battle with little injury. After the battle, she left the island with Vandir, Jeko, and several other Leskya Nuian Matoran on the Horizon Breaker to find another island to live on. Description Forms Powers and Equipment As a Po-Matoran, Merdana had inactive powers over the element of Stone, which manifested as increased strength and durability. When she became a Toa, she gained full access to these powers, allowing her to create, manipulate, and absorb various types of stone and rock. Using these powers, she could generate structures of stone or reshape already existing ones, and create and move bodies of sand and similar substances. Her ability to sense stone was particularly well-developed to the point where she could manipulate sediment using the trace amounts of sand in it. Merdana wore a Great Kanohi Benkhem, the Mask of Deviation, which allowed her to alter the speed and trajectory of flying objects. For Toa tools, she used a pair of hooked weapons she dubbed "Hook-knives". She also used a Axanar-based firearm based off of the Lokhart C5 firearm model developed by Detras to sabotage the Foundry. Merdana's fighting style, which was heavily based on close-range combat and using her enemy's weight and momentum and momentum against them, changed very little when she became a Toa. She was also known to be very creative in battle and used her Elemental powers almost exclusively to give herself an upper edge in fighting instead of using them for more direct attacks. Personality and Traits Merdana was most well-known for her hard-working attitude, although how exactly it was regarded depended on who was talking about it. Some said she always stayed grounded in reality and never got carried away while others said her overly serious disposition made her a bore. Overall, it didn't matter to her very much, unless it concerned her work. If it didn't concern her work, it didn't concern her. If she had good reason to get something done, she would ''get it done, no matter what she might have had to cancel, destroy, or postpone in order to accomplish it. She was also quite adventurous, which was likely what drove her to become the director of the scouting operations. One of the only people Merdana had a true emotional connection with was her mentor Vandir, who chose to transform her into a Toa. Vandir saw her as his apprentice and accomplice, and Merdana seemed to be protective of him, as shown with her fit of rage after being tricked into shooting him. Appearances * ''The Feral Plains/Volume I - First appearance * The Feral Plains/Volume II * Dirge * The Feral Plains/Volume III * The Feral Plains/Volume IV * The Feral Plains/Volume V * The Feral Plains/Volume VI * The Feral Plains/Volume VII Quotes Trivia * Merdana took her name from Mercedes, a supporting antagonist in the 1903 Jack London novel The Call of the Wild. * Before writing the fourth volume of The Feral Plains, in which Merdana was revealed to have been transformed into a Toa during the rise of Keelo's Empire, Cap had no plans of having her become a Toa. * Merdana has a counterpart in the Generation 2 continuity, an Okotan from the Region of Stone who appeared in Cap's short story Endeavor. Category:Toa of Stone Category:Toa Category:Stone Category:Po-Matoran Category:Matoran Category:Leskya Nuians